MADAMA BUTTERFLY – PUCCINI
Presented on Apr 12, 17, 22, 25 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Atsuko Azuma – Cio-Cio San
Lino Martinucci – Pinkerton
Giovanna Canetti – Suzuki
Angelo Romero – Sharpless
Raimondo Botteghelli – Goro
Helge Bömches – Bonze
William Young – Yamadori
Anna Assandri – Kate
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
The “Madam Butterfly” will be remembered for the moving performance of Japanese soprano Atsuko Azuma as Cio-Cio-San. Lino Martinucci looked an extremely young Pinkerton but his voice blended well with Azuma in the great love duet. Ann Deegan and Florrie Draper felt she was a natural Cio-Cio-San and really credible in every scene. William Young, who played Prince Yamadori and the Imperial Commissioner, fully agreed and found both her singing and acting touching in the extreme.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 